Improving medicines information at transfer of care is everyone's business

摘要

THE first project I undertook as a keen, newly qualified pharmacist at Nottingham City Hospital was to take the medication histories of patients admitted for elective surgery and resolve any discrepancies between what they had been taking at home and what was actually prescribed following their admission. Why? Because I had seen first hand how a patient whose regular long-term medicines had not been prescribed correctly on admission had had her surgery and recovery compromised and, after discussion within the surgical team, we had decided medication history taking might be better undertaken by a pharmacist. I published my early findings in The Pharmaceutical Journal, noting that this was an excellent use of a pharmacist's time.